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Inspire from your inner emotions.
Art is a mirror of your life.
What is Art Therapy?
Art therapy is using art to express emotions and promote mental well-being. It helps people explore their feelings, develop self-awareness and cope with challenges. It provides individuals with a non-verbal means of communication and self-discovery, allowing them to express their emotions, process their experiences and gain insight into their thoughts and feelings through artistic expression.
The Structure
The primary process of art therapy that includes drawing is seen on the diagram. I took this structure as a reference to develop the flow of my project.
‘In order to take art therapy into future generations, we must be open to new areas of image making and new creative tools.’ (Thong, 2007)
Accessibility
Art therapy requires specific training, certification, and a background in art and psychology, leading to a scarcity of professional painting therapists in certain regions or under-resourced areas.
Digitalization
Computer art making has become an integral part of the process of making art and is a valid medium for individual self-expression and art therapy.
Innovation
Artificial intelligence technologies such as computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning can bring new possibilities to art therapy.
Artificial Intelligence in Art Therapy?
Artificial intelligence is used to help individuals create art, provide cues for self-expression and even make art based on emotional cues. It aims to enhance the therapeutic experience by offering new ways for creative expression, self-reflection and emotional exploration with the support of technology.
‘ Computer art making has become an integral part of the process of making art and is a valid medium for individual self-expression and art therapy. ’ (Thong, 2007). Digital art therapy utilizes digital tools and technology to facilitate artistic expression and exploration in therapeutic settings. The digital medium and AI offers unique capabilities to manipulate color, texture, form and space, allowing artists to explore new ways of expression and creativity. Digital art offers individuals in today's digital age a versatile and accessible way for art making.
AI can generate ideas, offer feedback and guide the creative process. Through natural language processing and machine learning, AI can analyze user input, understand their emotions and provide relevant feedback and interventions in real time. AI can analyze and interpret user-generated artworks, providing insights into the emotional themes, symbols and patterns present in the artwork. Overall, AI has the potential to transform art therapy by offering innovative tools, personalized support and new forms of creative expression and self-discovery in the digital world.
Self-Awareness
Self-awareness improves one’s judgment and helps identify opportunities for personal growth and builds self-esteem and confidence. It helps individuals decide which direction their life should be following and what their needs and desires are. I focused on ‘Self-Awareness’ in my project in the context of art therapy. The activity that I selected for this project is aiming to raise self-awareness in an individual's life.
Being self-aware includes acknowledging and understanding:
Wishes and desires • Strengths • Weaknesses • Motivation or health and happiness • Challenges • Relationships with others • Barriers to achieving wishes • Beliefs and values • Self-esteem
The Place of Setting
The setting for this experiment with a digital tablet should be a quiet, well-lit room and free from distractions. Users need comfortable chairs and a desk or table to put a digital tablet on. Users should be in a place where they can feel comfortable and safe. Soft background sounds can also enhance the ambience and foster a sense of relaxation. The aim is to focus on creative expression by creating a calm and inviting space. This will encourage users to explore their emotions through art.
User Interfaces
Warm-up Conversation
Users are greeted by a warm-up conversation designed to set a welcoming and supportive environment. The screen has a friendly interface to create a sense of calm and safety. A simple question “How are you feeling?”, inviting users to engage in a brief dialogue with AI. This initial conversation serves as an introduction, encouraging users to reflect on their current emotional state and intentions for this experiment. Through empathetic and thoughtful language, it is aimed to open the way for self-expression. The therapeutic nature of the experiment is emphasized with the warm-up conversation.
AI initiates and maintains a dialogue with the user. It guides the user through open-ended questions and encourages self-expression and reflection. AI adapts its responses based on the user's inputs, providing personalized feedback and support tailored to their needs and preferences. Also, AI creates a safe and judgment-free space to have a supportive and therapeutic conversation with the user. This conversation was created with the help of ChatGPT.
Conversation elements
By incorporating both text and voice-based communication options, it is aimed to require accessibility needs, ensuring that each individual can engage with the AI in a way that best suits their preferences and abilities.
Introduction to the Activity
Users are greeted by a warm-up conversation designed to set a welcoming and supportive environment. The screen has a friendly interface to create a sense of calm and safety. A simple question “How are you feeling?”, inviting users to engage in a brief dialogue with AI. This initial conversation serves as an introduction, encouraging users to reflect on their current emotional state and intentions for this experiment. Through empathetic and thoughtful language, it is aimed to open the way for self-expression. The therapeutic nature of the experiment is emphasized with the warm-up conversation.
AI initiates and maintains a dialogue with the user. It guides the user through open-ended questions and encourages self-expression and reflection. AI adapts its responses based on the user's inputs, providing personalized feedback and support tailored to their needs and preferences. Also, AI creates a safe and judgment-free space to have a supportive and therapeutic conversation with the user. This conversation was created with the help of ChatGPT.
Describe What to Draw
The activity is described to users. They can start a drawing session when they are ready. This activity is taken from Susan Buchalter's book "250 Brief, Creative, and Practical Art Therapy Techniques: A Guide for Clinicians and Clients".
Drawing Screen
Once users are ready, they can start drawing based on the activity prompt. They can select their preferred colors and pen tools from the toolbar. Whether bold strokes or delicate lines, there is a tool for varied artistic style. There are no right or wrong answers here, only endless possibilities for self-expression and discovery. This session invites users to participate in a drawing experience, giving them the tools they need to express themselves creatively and reflect on their feelings and experiences. The drawing below is made based on the response of the client in Susan Buchalter’s book.
Exploration with Questions
Q1
Q2
Q3
These conversations are created with help of ChatGPT, based on the questions and responses of the client in Susan Buchalter’s book. Exploring the artwork with questions is an important aspect of art therapy as it allows users to delve deeper into their thoughts, feelings and experiences. By reflecting on artworks and participating in guided exploration, users can gain insight, process their emotions and develop a deeper understanding of themselves. In this experiment, AI acts as a supportive and insightful guide, leading users through a series of reflective questions related to their drawings and the overall theme of the event. Open-ended questions help users to express themselves. Reflecting on drawing and discussing them with AI allows users to process and make sense of their emotions in a safe and supportive environment. AI analyzes text and drawings with the combination of NLP and image recognition, then provides feedback to users in a conversation.
AI Generated Image
AI-generated images provide users with a new and different perspective on their emotions and experiences. Users gain new insights and interpretations that they might not initially realize. This allows for a deeper exploration of their emotions and creative expressions. The AI-generated image introduces users to the capabilities of digital tools and AI in the context of art therapy. By experiencing the process of creating artwork digitally and seeing AI interpret their input, users become familiar with the potential of technology to support their emotional exploration and expression. The image generated by the AI fosters a sense of creative collaboration between the user and the AI. Users have the opportunity to interact with the AI's interpretation of their input, provide feedback and shape the final outcome. This collaborative process encourages active engagement and participation in the therapeutic journey.
Edit AI Generated Image
Users are able to edit the AI generated image with the options of applying style and color. Also, new images can be generated by the “create new image” button. Each image includes alternative images similar to the main image to provide a wide range of selection. In this editing part, it is aimed to give users more control over the image.
I experienced image creation with DreamStudio. My aim was to take related images with the prompt that I entered. The results were satisfactory. The following are other styles I have experienced. Users can apply different styles for their exploration that they feel closer to them.
Fantasy Art
Cartoon
Pixel Art
Neon Punk
End Screen
By showing the user's drawing and AI-generated image, users can gain a new perspective on their emotions. Users also have an explanation referring to their journey in this experiment. Users can save this journey with the “download” option. AI's interpretation enriches understanding and provides users a different way of art making.
This activity is based on the book 250 Brief, Creative and Practical Art Therapy Techniques : A Guide for Clinicians and Clients by Susan Buchalter. The example in this project is based on this activity and client response.
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